I continue with my selection of applications for 2024. It is a list of the programs that I plan to use to maximize my productivity, reduce my dependence on proprietary services and try to maximize my income.
An advert. Don't look for the ninth part of the series. I got the order wrong in the previous article and realized it too late to fix it.
My selection of applications for 2024.
In the days before streaming services downloads were the main way to obtain content. The most common download methods are:
- Direct download: The file is obtained directly from the server where the file is hosted. No authentication is required, although there may be restrictions on the speed or number of files downloaded between users who pay a subscription and anonymous users who download for free.
- ftp: It is a protocol for connecting and transferring files that is basically used for uploading websites. requires authentication and having server data.
- Downloads through P2P networks: It is the most popular method since it does not require intervention from a central server and since the files are served by the computers of the same users who download them, the speed is faster.
The eleventh application
Direct downloading has its drawbacks. Some micro break in the connection can cause everything downloaded to be lost, and, except in the case of premium accounts, the speed is not the best. To avoid many of the problems of downloading using the computer, download managers were invented.
What are download managers?
Download managers automate connection tasks, completing captchas, interrupting and resuming downloads. Although some have this functionality, not all are download accelerators. Some of its advantages are:
- Allows you to download multiple files simultaneously.
- They allow you to establish which files to download and when to do it.
- They allow you to pause and resume downloadss depending on the server and account type.
- Allows you to set different destinations download.
- They integrate with web browsers and clipboard avoiding the need to copy links.
JDownloader 2
JDownloader 2 is a veteran program that I came across again when I realized that it has a version in the Flatpak store. It is open source and free, although it has some advertising banners that do not bother too much.
The application can work with most file hosting services both in free and anonymous mode and with a paid account. At one time it also worked with services that allowed downloading from multiple hostings with a single account. As I am no longer a customer of this type of product, I cannot ensure if it is still compatible.
To the traditional functions of pausing/resume downloading and setting bandwidth limit, JDownloader 2 adds completing Captcha verification manually. To my taste they don't look too good.
As far as I know, there is no way to integrate the program and the browser, so the clipboard must act as an intermediary. Once the links have been copied we just have to click on the Add Links button. This as long as it has not been done automatically, we can see this in the Link Capture tab.
If we copy a link that gives access to multiple files (such as a YouTube playlist, the link grabber will show us all the videos in the list and we can select which one to download.
With Youtube Jdownloader 2 shines. It shows you the video file, audio file, subtitles and description. This allows us to determine what we want to download. The advantage is that we can use the features of modifying the appearance of the subtitles of desktop video players.
In the Options You can change the download folder location, configure proxy settings, and schedule downloads. Plus, it comes with an automatic zip file extractor
The first start is a bit slow because what is installed from the Flatpak store is the installer.